After a pretty bad loss to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, the Cleveland Browns were back on the practice field for the first time since last Thursday. Unfortunately, rather than turning things around from Saturday's debacle, things only seemed to get worse. It sounds like we'll be in store for a heck of a Great Lakes Classic this coming Saturday!
I've decided to stick with naming the "Day" number as the same number as the date. This works out since the Browns first training camp session took place on August 1 this year.
TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 17 (8/17/09)
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Uncharacteristic Day for Furrey: After being Mr. Reliable in terms of his hands, it wasn't the best day for veteran receiver Mike Furrey. Furrey had a couple of drops, with the biggest one coming when Derek Anderson fired a pass to him. The ball bounced off of Furrey's hands and into the arms of LB Eric Barton for an interception.
- The Quarterback Chronicles: If a little kid was asked to draw a picture of how well the Browns quarterbacks did in practice Monday, I guarantee you he/she wouldn't draw a sunshine despite the fact that temperatures were roasting in the mid-90 degree range. Just like Anderson had a pass picked (see above) in drills, Brady Quinn threw a pick to LB Marcus Benard, who returned the pass 45 yards for a touchdown.
- Two-Minute Drill (Anderson): After a false start penalty by LT Joe Thomas, Anderson completed passes to Furrey and Steve Heiden before scrambling for a would-be sack, killing the drive quickly. He moved the ball 12 yards in just four plays.
- Two-Minute Drill (Quinn): Quinn didn't fare much better, moving the ball just 25 yards in nine plays. Of note on his drive -- LB Kaluka Maiava came free on a blitz causing an incompletion, and DB Nick Sorensen almost intercepted a pass intended for Lance Leggett. To end the drive, on 4th-and-12, Quinn could only manage to toss the ball out of bounds.
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Penalties Add Up: Those penalties created by the players in Saturday's exhibition games didn't go without punishment. Every player who committed a penalty had to run a lap. I wonder if that included C Alex Mack, whose holding call was questionable. Mack was running with the first-team offense during practice. Rapid Reports stated that third-string center Dustin Fry put a Shotgun snap into the ground and ran a lap for it. Yikes.
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Bubble Watch: WR Lance Leggett dropped a pass thrown by Quinn. DB Bret Lockett has received prais from Eric Mangini and has looked pretty decent.
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Not Practicing: Sitting out/on the bikes at the start of practice were RB Jerome Harrison, LB David Bowens, OL Ryan Tucker, WR David Patten, TE Martin Rucker and NT Shaun Rogers. Patten did end up rejoining the team later on though.
- Buzz on Davis Continues to Lessen: After rookie RB James Davis made a lot of noise at the start of camp, things have quieted down a lot for him ever since the Brown/White scrimmage a few weeks ago. He hasn't broken as many plays in practice, and had to run a lap Monday for fumbling a running back exchange.
- On the Other Hand: The buzz surrounding Coye Francies continues to get hotter. He was playing tight coverage again during practice, forcing a few incompletions.
- Cribbs Could be No. 2: From Mangini's press conference, it sounds like there's a serious chance that Joshua Cribbs might be our No. 2 receiver to start the season. I know we took Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi this offseason, but I am rooting for Cribbs to finally get that opportunity.
The Browns will have two sessions on Tuesday -- one in the morning and one in the evening.
Tuesday's Links/Camp Sources
- Monday, Aug. 17: No starter named (Akron Beacon Journal, Ridenour)
- Browns' Mangini: It's too early to name a QB (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cabot)
- Camp Notes: 8/17/09 (Orange and Brown Report, King)
- Practice gets sloppy (Canton Repository, Doerschuk)